The Reason for India's poor performance in Global Sports

(This article is from a newsletter which was for the Introduction to Journalism course's 2nd Internal Assessment. The newsletter was worked on by a team of 5 and people consisted of 4 articles. This one was written by me and edited by our group Editor)

The 119-member Indian Contingent, won 2 medals in the recently concluded Rio Olympics and have won 17 individual medals in  24 Olympic Games contested. Inclusion of the medals from hockey takes India’s total medals at the Olympics to 28. There are countries that have poorer records at the quadrennial event, but if our population is taken into account, India has a shockingly low medals-per-person ratio! The country with the 2nd largest population in the world fail time and time again to finish among the top 50 countries at the Olympics.

So why does India fail at the biggest event in the world despite having such potential in talented athletes? Madhuli Kulkarni, a counsellor, trainer and writer in the field of sports and educational psychology answers it quite plainly, “Sports is never a priority for Indian parents.” Our culture is so focused on academic success that any success in sports is given less importance. A large chunk of talent is being diverted away from sports, due to this mind-set.

A famous Hindi quote sums this up nicely: “Kheloge kudoge to honge kharab, padhoge likhoge to banoge nawab” which can be translated as “If you study hard you will live like a king, but if you play sports you will ruin your life.” There is little support for those who display athletic prowess. We only notice them during the Olympics fortnight, if they qualify for it, and that attention is sustained post the Olympic fortnight only if they get a medal (Sakshi Malik) or come agonisingly close(Dipa Karmakar). Otherwise they fade into oblivion. For eg. Achanta Sharath Kamal who represented India in Table Tennis in Beijing 2008?) anyone remembers him?

P.V.Sindhu (Olympic Silver Medallist) is getting several cash rewards adding up to almost ₹10 crore for her outstanding performance. Her silver is the result of India’s long term investment in Badminton. It was the second medal in as many games for India in the sport. She deserves all the praise and the money but it makes one wonder if there’s a need for pro-activeness. What if this sort of money was invested in athletes before they win a medal? Wouldn’t we have more than a couple of medals?

All sports are equal, but some sports are more equal than others.

If sports are encouraged at all, it is usually popular sports like cricket. Other non-popular sports are dwarfed by cricket’s popularity. Media coverage is a factor in this as non-popular sports only get attention during the Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games. Cricket dominates the scene the rest of the time. A minor test series between India and Zimbabwe takes preference over something prestigious, such as the National Games. The cash rewards are higher for cricket tournament winners than for a winner in any other sport.

And even when a non-popular sport is encouraged, and an athlete displays prowess, there is little support for that athlete. The facilities are inadequate and most of the time athletes have to support themselves financially. Sometimes, they have to risk their lives like Indian luger (luge sled) Shiva Keshavan who slides down precarious mountain roads alongside vehicles or Dipa Karmakar with her Produnova or ‘Death’ vault. Due to this many talented individuals give up sports. There are those who qualify, but after qualifying they are made to travel in economy class(while ministers and their use up the business class seats allocated for the athletes) and have ill-fitting uniforms among other things. It makes a lot of sense to go for a more glamorous sport like cricket.

The successful nations offer citizens a chance to get a sporting and educational upbringing, so that they can survive in the world if they suffer a career terminating injury. These countries treat every sport equally. The lack of medals is the fault of the Indian system. The signs are bright as in this edition of the Olympics, India sent its largest ever contingent, but whilst getting there is no doubt commendable, the final hurdle of winning a medal needs to be crossed. One can’t expect miracles from the athletes, if they haven’t been backed. Along with cricket, other sports require adequate backing as no one sport should be given more importance than rest, if India is to succeed at the Olympics.

Long term investment is the key to solving this problem. With sincere investment in our athletes and a change in our thought processes we could improve. But will it happen or will we be “…just talk and talk till Tokyo 2020?”